Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited has acquired Jaypore, an ethnic apparel and accessories retailer, for Rs110 crore to enter the large but untapped market of traditional wear.
Established in February 2012, Jaypore sells home decor, accessories, jewelry and had revenues of Rs39 crore in FY19. ABFRL said it expects the deal to be completed within 30-45 days.
“Ethnic wear is the largest segment in the Indian fashion apparel market. While ABFRL has built a diversified portfolio of brands across different segments, ethnic wear space is currently under-represented in our bouquet of offerings to consumers,” said Ashish Dikshit, managing director, ABFRL that has a strong network of 2,714 stores for brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England.
In India, ethnic wear is the single biggest category in the women’s wear segment with a share of 71%. This is despite global fashion brands such as Zara, H&M and Vero Moda pushing their westernised clothing in their market. Indian wear, initially largely restricted to the older age segment, have also found acceptance among younger consumers as companies widened their portfolio to sell fusion clothing — a mix of modern and tradition wear — instead of just ethnic, which are reserved for special occasions.
Leading department chains such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Westside expanded their private label range and started offering contemporary styling in the ethnic space, fuelling growth. Also, Manyavar, Craftsvilla, RG Designer and other regional and in-house brands have been adding to their ethnic wear segment, riding on online marketplaces for distribution.
“Jaypore is a brand with strong equity and with a differentiated offering of products based on Indian crafts. It provides a great platform for us to build a strong presence in the ethnic segment and in accessories and home segment,” said Dikshit. The brand also sells sells home textiles, including cushions, rugs and dhurries, quilts, bed linens, table linens, upholstery and curtains and kitchen and bath linens.
